Fuel Inefficiency

Truck Popularity Putting A Dent In Mileage Gains

October 01, 1995|By James Bennet, New York Times News Service.

DETROIT — Americans who might sneer at driving a gas-guzzling Cadillac are tickled to be seen in a Jeep, Range Rover or Chevy Suburban. But the enormous popularity of these light trucks is reversing the nation's impressive gains in fuel efficiency.

Because the government sets a much looser standard for trucks -- including sport utility vehicles, mini-vans and pickups -- they use far more fuel than cars. Light trucks get only 20 miles to a gallon of gasoline, on average, while cars get 28.

And with trucks now accounting for 4 of 10 new passenger vehicles sold, the boom is dirtying the air and making the United States more dependent on oil.

As a result, the Clinton administration is weighing the first significant increase in years in the mileage standard for trucks. Any new standard would take effect by April, for trucks that reach the showrooms in late 1997.

Yet an increase is by no means guaranteed. The Big Three auto companies -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- are scrambling to thwart it, and they have found a powerful ally in the House of Representatives, which recently voted to block the government from taking such action.

The automakers argue that Americans like their trucks sturdy and powerful, and that it would be too expensive to make engines for such vehicles burn less fuel. Further, the Big Three automakers say, any stiffening in the regulations would hand a chunk of the light-truck market, which they dominate, to Japanese companies, which make more efficient truck engines.

"It scares us," said Michael J. Stanton, a lobbyist for the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.

But energy-conservation groups and other critics say the auto companies have not even tried to improve the fuel efficiency of trucks. And, they point out, most Americans who drive light trucks do not use them for the kinds of activities that require Herculean shock absorbers and towing strength, even if they like to pretend they do. After all, the United States has not suddenly realized Jefferson's dream and become a nation of farmers; nor has it become a nation of off-road adventurers.

Instead, the auto companies' own research shows, it has become a nation of overprepared commuters, as millions of Americans use the rugged vehicles only to drive to work and haul the youngsters and the groceries.

The impact of the growing popularity of light trucks has been striking. When cars and light trucks are counted together, average fuel economy increased steadily among new vehicles from the 1979 model year until 1987, when it was 26.2 miles a gallon. Since then, as truck sales have surged, overall fuel economy has declined, to 24.8 miles a gallon in the 1995 model year, according to a government estimate.

"Because of trucks, we've lost fuel efficiency in the fleet," said Robert E. Larson, associate director at the Environmental Protection Agency's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich. "At the same time, everybody thinks we're getting better."

Because of improvements like front-wheel drive and lighter-weight materials, passenger cars are much more fuel-efficient than they were in 1975 (although there are more cars traveling more miles). By contrast, light trucks in total are burning twice as much fuel as they were 20 years ago. And the United States is more dependent on foreign oil than it was then.

"It's utterly outrageous," said Daniel F. Becker, director of the global warming and energy program at the Sierra Club. Because of the lower standard for trucks, he said, "we have more pollution, more oil consumption and a higher trade deficit in oil."

Light trucks have sold so well because buyers, tempted by the automakers and little concerned about the cost of gasoline, are substituting them for passenger cars. "The Montero. A Luxury Car Not Designed for the Idle Rich," reads an advertisement for a Mitsubishi sport utility vehicle. "It Has Leather in Places Luxury Cars Don't Even Have Places," crows an ad for the Chrysler Town & Country mini-van.

In a sure sign that Alan Alda has replaced Tom Joad in the driver's seat, Ford announced last month that the new model of its Ranger pickup will have not only a passenger-side air bag but also a switch to turn it off when the passenger is a child in a rear-facing child seat.